Whole fish

Tuesday

Apr 24, 2012 at 6:00 AM

Whole Foods’ decision to stop selling any fish that it does not consider sustainable highlights how complex commercial fishing has become. Everyone wants a diverse and plentiful mix of fish in the ocean for centuries to come, but fishermen, regulators, retailers, and the public face difficult choices.

Two years ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began a new system of regulation for New England’s fisheries, dividing them into 19 sectors, running from Port Clyde, Maine to Point Judith, R.I., and limiting types of nets, days at sea, and quantities that could be caught.

The new rules were excoriated in fishing ports such as Gloucester and New Bedford, but fishermen had little choice.

Two years later, regulators and fishermen continue their uneasy coexistence. NOAA statistics show that while fishermen are spending less time on the water, they are more efficient. Bycatch — unwanted species that are discarded — has been reduced, and the price-per-pound received by fishermen for targeted species is up 7 percent over two years.

But populations of cod have not recovered as hoped. And thousands of fishermen have in recent decades had to find new ways to make a living.

Johanna Thomas, an adviser for the Environmental Defense Fund, told the Telegram & Gazette’s editorial board during a recent visit that environmentalists understand that what may be best for the fish — a total ban on catching some species — is not politically or economically feasible, and is not being advocated.

Ms. Thomas notes that fishermen have adapted well to new rules, resulting in savings on fuel, and operations that are better for the long-term stability of many species. Perhaps the best way to put it, she said, is that regulators and fishermen are “starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a very long tunnel.”

The picture is further complicated by the likely effects of climate change, marketing efforts, consumers’ tastes, and the need of fishermen to make a living.

We understand the anger and frustration of the fishing industry in dealing with new rules and frequent changes to them dictated by shifting findings of science. And it may be, as one Gloucester fishermen told the New York Times, that what Whole Foods won’t buy, others will.

Nonetheless, we believe that government regulations, provided they are driven by careful science, have a role to play in saving the fishing industry. And so, too, do the decisions of retailers and consumers, particularly those who understand that today’s fresh catch has an impact on what — if anything — will be on sale tomorrow and in the years ahead.